Apparatus for scalding and washing fruits and vegetables.



PATENTED APR. 12, 1904;

No. 757,186. v

, R. I. FANGHER. APPARATUS FOR SOALDING AND WASHING FRUITS ANDVEGETABLES APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 19, 1903.

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. PATENTED APR. 12, 1904 AOL-757,186.

A. R. I. EANSEE A APPARATUS FOR SGALDING AND WASHING FRUITS ANDVEGETABLES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 19, 1903.

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L E D 0 M 0 N WITNESSES:

Cincinnati,

Patented April 12, 1 904.

ROSMA-N I. FANOHER, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

APPARATUS FOR SOALDING AND WASHiNG FRUITS AND VEGETABLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 757,186, dated April12, 1904.

Application filed March 19 1903.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Roman I. FANoHnR, of in the county of Hamilton, in.the State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements inApparatus for Scalding and Washing Fruits and Vegetables, of which thefollowing, taken in ,connection'with the accompanying drawings, is afull, clear, and exact description. v i.

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for scalding andwashing fruits and vegetables in which the fruit or other matter to bescalded is continuously and automatically conveyed into and out of ascalding fluid and discharged upon a suitable conveyer, by which it. isconveyed to the exterior of the' apparatus.

One of the objects of this invention is to produce a simple, compact,and durable machine whereby the fruit or vegetales areautomatical'ly'and continuously fed to and from the scalding fluid andare thoroughly washed and uniformly acalded during their transit throughthe'machine.

Further objects of the in the description.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a transverse invention will appear verticalsection through my improved apparatus, taken at right angles with theaxisof revoare sectional views taken,

lution of the feeding-drum. Figs. 2 and 3 respectively, on lines2 2 and3 3, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is aperspec tive view of the detached rotaryfeeding-carrier. J 1

Similar reference characters indicate correspondingparts in all theviews.

. 1 This invention consists, essentially, of a substantiallyrectangular'vat 1, which is adapted toireceive a scalding fluid, as abodyof wa- -ter 2, the vat being providedwith an overflowconduit 3through one of the sidewalls in proximity to the upper open end of thevat for maintaining the water at a definite level. Thebottom of the vatis depressed at the center and is provided with a discharge-opening 4,which is normally closed by a plug 5,

whereby the liquid may be entirely drawn oif when desired. One oftheside walls, as the front wall, is also provided with a clean-out SerialNo. 14am. on model.)

tenor of the vat, these steam-pipes being adapted to be'connected to anysource of steamsupply. (Not shown.) v

The upper end of the main vat is normally closed by a hood or dome 9,which serves to inclose the interior mechanism, presently described, andalso acts to properly confine the heated vapor and to maintain asubstantially uniform temperature within the vat, a suit able vent 10being provided in the upper wall of the hood to reduce the steam andvapor pressure within the inclosure.

The front and rear walls of the vat 1 and hood 9 are provided withopenings, which receive a circular drum 11, extending transverselyacross the interior of the vat and fixed to said front and rear walls..The lower portion of this drum extends beneaththe level of, the liquidand forms the innerv wall of a circular conduit, through which thefruitand vegetables are conveyed during-the process of washing andcooking.

A revolving carrier 12 is mounted upon rollers 13 within the vat 1 andsurrounds the intermediate portion of the shell ll between the front andrear walls of the vat, the rollers 13 being mounted in fixed bearingsupon the front and rear walls. The carrier 12' preferably consists ofsubstantially parallel circular plates or rings 14, which are arrangedin prox imity-to the front and rear walls and are united to each otherat intervals by radial wings 15 i for forming a series of pockets 17between the wings and circular flanges The inner and outer ends of thesepockets are open, the-fruit or vegetables being discharged into theouter ends of the pockets through a chute 18, which is disposed in aninclined plane above the axis of revolution of the carrier in suchmanner that the material to be treated feeds by gravity into the pocketsas they are successively registered with the mouth of the chute 18during the rotation of the carrier in the width as the length of thepockets, and is arranged in close proximity to the periphery of .the endwalls 14 and outer ends of the partitions 15. This screen encircles thelower porarranged within and'extends through the holtion of the carrier,and its opposite ends terminate in planes above the axis of rotation ofthe carrierand are secured to the end walls of the hood 9 by transverserods or hangers 20. I

' The upper portion of the shell 11 is removed for forming a lengthwiseopening 21, through which the scalded fruit or other vegetables aredischarged from the wings of the carrier onto an endless conveyer 22,which is low shell 11 beneath the opening 21 and extends entirelythrough the opposite open ends of'the shell 11. I

The carrier 12 .and conveyer 22 are driven by 'a rotary shaft 23, whichis provided with a pinion 24:, meshing with a circular rack 25 upon theperiphery of the rear wall 14 of the carrier to rotate said carrier,said shaft being also provided with a beveled pinion 25, which mesheswith a similar pinion 26 upon the conveyer driving-shaft 27. Thisconveyer consists of an endless belt or bed mounted upon sprocket-wheels29 at the front and rear of. the vat 1, the 'front sprocket-wheels beingmounted upon the sh aft 27 and serves to move the upper portion of theconveyer in the direction indicated by arrow y, Fig. 2, and finallydischarges the scalded fruit or vegetables to an inclined chute orhopper 30. During the discharge of the material being treated from thewings of the carrier through the opening 21 and upon the conveyer 22 Ipreferably additionally scald the material by enveloping the same injets of steam, which "is introduced into the interior of the carrierthrough suitable steam-pipes 31, located in r such manner as todischarge the steam against 5 the opposite sides of the material as itis discharged from thecarrier through the opening 21. v i

The conveyer 22 preferably consists of a, series of slats arranged edgeto edge and attached to the links of a conveyer-chain 33, the oppositeends of the slats being provided with flanges 34 for retaining the fruitand vegetables during their transit to the chute or hop- 'per 30. I i

Before finally discharging the fruit from the'conveyer it is desirableto thoroughly clean or wash the same, and I therefore provide awater-conduit 35, which is located between the front end vof the shell11 and ad-' jacent end of the hopper 30 above the upper portion of theconveyer, so as to discharge a series of jets of water directly onto thescalded material.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a vat adapted to contain a scalding fluid andmeans to heat the fluid,

of a fixed hollow shell extending transversely through the vat, andprovided with an opening in its upper wall, a conveyer operatinglengthwise of and within the shell beneath the opening, a revolvingcarrier movable through the scalding fluid, means to discharge the material to be scalded onto the carrier, said carrier discharging thescalded material through theopening in the shell andonto the conveyor.2. In combination with a vat, means to introduce steam into the vat, arevolving carrier within the vat, a fixed screen encircling the.

lower portion of the carrier, means to discharge the material to bescalded onto the carrier and a conveyer operating axially of and withinthe carrier, said carrier being adapted to discharge the scaldedmaterial onto the conveyer.

5'. In combination with'a vat adapted to con tain a scalding liquid,means to heat the liquid,

, inner and outer fixed concentric circular walls within the vat anddipping into the liquid, the inner Wall being imperforate, a revolvingcarrier movable between said walls for carrying thelmaterial to bescalded through the scald ing fluid, and a conveyer operating axially ofand within the carrier for receiving the scalded material from thecarrier. 1

4. Incombination with a vat adapted to contain a scalding fluid, meansto heat the fluid, inner and outer concentric circular walls'within thevat and dipping into the fluid, the outer wall being perforated and theinner wall being provided with an opening in its top, a rotary carriermovable between said walls and provided with a series of pockets havingtheir inner ends open and successively registering with the opening inthe inner concentric wall whereby the scalding fluid is dischargedautomatically'within said inner wall and means to feed the material tobe treated into the pockets.

5. In a scalding and washing apparatus for fruits and vegetables, thecombination with a vat adapted .to contain a scalding fluid and means toheat the fluid, of a rotary carrier having a series of pockets movablethrough the I liquid, said pockets being open'at their inner andouterends, a perforated wall closing the outer openends of the pocketswhich are immersed in the liquid, .a'n imperforate inner wallclosing theinner ends ofthe pocketswhich are immersed in the liquid, said innerwall being open at the top and the carrier discharging the scaldedmaterial through said opening and a conveyer operating axially'of andwiththrough the opening and means to actuate the conveyer. 1

6. In an apparatus for scalding and washing fruits and vegetables, thecombination with a 'vat adapted to contain a scalding fluid and means toheat the fluid, of a rotary carrier having a circular central openingand a series of pockets communicating with the opening, said pocketsbeing open at their inner and outer ends and movable through thescalding fluid for conveying the material to be treated therethrough, aclosure for the outer ends of the immersed pockets and a conveyeroperating in the central openingv of the carrier, the several pockets ofthe carrier successively discharging at their inner ends onto theconveyor and means to actuate the conveyer.

7. An apparatus for scalding and washing fruits and vegetablescomprising a vat adapted to contain a scalding fluid, means to heat thefluid, a rotary carrier within the wit haw ing a central opening and aseries of pockets surrounding the opening and'open at their inner andouter ends, means for revolving the carrier, additional means fordischarging the material to be treated into the open outer ends a of thepockets as the carrier is revolved, a closure forthe outer ends of theimmersed pocketsand a conveyer operating axially of and within thecentral opening of the carrier, the several pockets of the carrierdischarging successively from their inner ends onto the conveyer.

8. in combination with a vat adapted to contain a scalding fluid andmeans to heat the fluid, a rotary carrier having a central opening and aseries of pockets surrounding the opening and open at their inner andouter ends,

means to rotate the carrier, means to feed the material to be treatedinto the outer ends of the pockets during the rotation of the carrier, aclosure for the outer ends of the immersed pockets, a conveyer operatingthrough the central opening, means to actuate the con- "veyer, saidcarrier being adapted to discharge thescalded material through the innerend of the pockets onto. the conveyer and a perforated steam-pipearranged within the central mersed in the liquid, a second concentricwall covering the inner ends of the pockets and open at the top abovethe liquid-level, a conveyer operating within the central opening of thecarrier, said carrier being adapted to dis charge the scalded materialfrom the inner ends of the pockets through the opening in the inner walland upon the conveyer, means to actuate the conveyer and a'water-pipe-10- catedabove'the conveyer and adapted to discharge the water vuponthe material while being conveyed from the carrier.

10. An apparatus for scalding and washing fruits and vegetablescomprising aivat adapted to contain a scalding fluid; steam-pipesprojecting into the interior of the vet for heating the fluid, a rotarycarrier within the vet having a central opening and a series of pocketssurrounding said opening and communicating therewith, inner and outerconcentric walls covering the inner and outer ends of the pockets whichare immersed in the liquid, the inner wall having an opening in its topto re ceive the scalded material discharged from the inner ends of thepockets, means to feed the material to be treated into the outer ends ofthe pockets during the rotation of the carrier, a conveyer operatingWithin the central opening of the, carrier to'receive the scalded Imaterial, a perforated steam-pipe discharging steam against the materialdischarged from the inner ends of the pockets and a waterpipedischarging onto the material in the'con- YQy Q In witness wher'eofIhave hereunto set my

